Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management

The present research explores the variables that impact Green Competitive Advantage (GCA) in modern business environments. It highlights the importance of strategic investments in green finance and the strong association between Strategic Finance (SFI) and GCA, which aligns with the growing emphasis on sustainable business practices worldwide. Furthermore, the study reveals the correlation between Corporate Governance (CG), business Size (CS), and GDP, emphasizing the critical function of solid governance frameworks and the utilization of business scale to align with broader economic trends. However, discovering multicollinearity among particular variables underscores the necessity for caution when interpreting regression model results. In addition, incorporating a geographical dimension yields refined insights that disclose characteristics distinctive to a specific place and globally relevant determinants that affect GCA. Ultimately, companies that want to be sustainable and competitive must take a holistic approach considering governance, strategic finance, and location.

By applying the PLS-SEM method to survey the data of 350 samples in Indonesia, this paper develops a framework based on three potential elements: push effect (partnership and cooperation, rules and regulations, value practices), pull effect (government support, market sophistication, environmental awareness), and mooring effect (technological support and switching costs) about the transition of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) towards green practices. The study reveals that these factors exhibit variations in terms of statistical significance. The findings indicate that an increase in the push effect and pull effect significantly influences the switching behaviour of MSME owners/managers. In contrast, concerning the mooring effect, each element demonstrates varying levels of direct influence on the transition towards green practices in MSMEs, with some impacts proving to be statistically significant and others not. Overall, these findings shed light on the intricate dynamics of MSMEs environmental responsibility, offering valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners.

This study examines how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance and state ownership affect firm valuation in Singapore and determines if the effects of ESG on firm valuation are more pronounced in state-owned companies. The data comprises 51 companies listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange with complete ESG and financial information during the five-year period from 2018 to 2022. This study finds that only social practices positively and statistically significantly affect stock prices. Overall ESG values, and the other two dimensions of ESG appear not to be statistically significant. State ownership appears to positively and significantly affect the stock price. The finding suggests that the Singapore government’s substantial influence over corporate practices could accentuate the difference in market perception of ESG efforts between SOEs and companies. The study provides useful and practical implications to policymakers, managers and investors, which affect firm financial and operational performance.

Gas refineries are an important part of the energy supply in the world but they may produce byproducts like emissions too. Thus, both technical performance and environmental execution are important and need to be analyzed. Iran is the third-highest producer of natural gas in the world. It produces 6.5% of the natural gas in the world. This paper rummages the environmental and technical performance of Iranian gas refineries through data envelopment analysis (DEA), which is a strong frontier analysis approach is used in this study. Although the primary result shows a rather good performance of Iranian gas refineries overall, more potentials are found for improvement. We find 6% technical potential and 8% environmental potential for improvement which is still a considerable amount. Thus, national and international policymakers should consider this potential for better production and supply of natural gas. We also provided an empirical robustness check to enrich our findings.

As consensus grows for low-carbon development, innovation becomes vital for green growth, given the substantial technology adoption needed for long-term environmental targets. This paper explores market-driven incentives for green product innovation in an asymmetric duopoly using a game theory approach without relying on direct government intervention. The roles that market dynamics and rivalry have on the supply of green or brown products are explored in simultaneous and sequential scenarios, considering technology costs, demand-creating effects, rivalry gains, and information availability. Results reveal that a fully green market is contingent on low innovation costs, depending especially on the magnitude of demand creation effects. Notably, product differentiation occurs only under extreme cost asymmetry. Recommendations underscore the importance of incentivising low-cost innovations, assessing the impact of product differentiation and diversity, especially concerning lower-income consumers, and proposing measures to improve the transparency of firms’ strategic choices.